The younger brother of Samit, who impressed so much with Nottinghamshire in 2007, Akhil is a mirror image of his brother with the bat. He has scored plenty of runs at junior levels and, along with Derbyshire colleague Tom Poynton, was part of the ECB Under-17 squad for the midlands in July 2007. He made his first-class debut in April 2007, making a composed 31 against Cambridge UCCE.

Patel left Derbyshire for Nottinghamshire, with whom he signed a two-year contract in 2009. Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire's director of cricket, noted how quickly Patel had developed in the 12 months leading up to his new contract. Alas, his progress seemed to stall thereafter. Languishing in the county's second XI for much of his time at Trent Bridge, Patel made only three Championship appearances in 2011, with a high score of 24, and was released by Nottinghamshire at the end of the season.